TV Overnights: Nick Knowles beats off Tom Hardy to win the 9pm slot for BBC One
Thursday’s 9pm line up was looking a little limp as the two main broadcasters have seemingly made the most of the holiday period by taking the foot off the pedal themselves.
BBC One’s offering came in the form of a trumped up daytime home improvement show that has been bewilderingly retooled for a prime time audience. This week’s exciting repeat of DIY SOS: The Big Build (9pm) saw the team of big hearted builders descend upon Wales for a bit of makeover magic and quality scripted banter.
The episode was originally broadcast in January of this year but that didn’t stop avid fans of Nick Knowles from cancelling their plans and tuning in en masse. The classic episode – from the 23rd series, no less – pulled in a surprising 3.7 million viewers and an 18% share. This was enough to secure the 9pm slot.
Which isn’t hugely surprising when looking at what was on offer from the other major broadcaster. ITV allowed serious actor Tom Hardy to take a break from his art to wander around Africa for a bit, concerning himself with the plight of animals.
The second part of Poaching Wars with Tom Hardy (ITV, 9pm) saw the talented thespian look pleadingly down the camera – using his best acting chops to emote the sadness he was feeling. 1.3 million viewers (up from last week’s 1.2 million) tuned in to see the intrepid artiste attempt to solve the poaching crisis, bringing in a 6% share.
Over on Channel 5, the celebrity version of Big Brother (9pm) continued to perform slightly better than its peasant counterpart. 1.8 million viewers caught up with the mentally ill dregs of our celebrity obsessed society, pulling in the channel’s biggest audience of the day and a 9% share.
At the same time Channel 4, gave us access to the career burglars of sunny West Yorkshire in a Cutting Edge special. Burgled (9pm) informed viewers that Britain has the biggest home thieving rates in Europe, and asked victims, police and the terminally stupid criminals to discuss the issues on camera. 1.5 million viewers (a 7% share) tuned in to get to the bottom of the social dilapidation, netting the channel’s biggest audience of the day.
Channel 5 continued on its journey into the cheap and nasty at 10pm with the sensationalistly titled documentary The Man Who Ate Himself to Death. The grim show (whose contents are pretty much covered in the title) brought in an impressive 1.3 million viewers at 10pm.
The tug of war for the accolade of being the nation’s second favourite soap continued yesterday evening as EastEnders (BBC One, 7:30pm) was tasked with facing off against not one, but two episodes of Emmerdale (7pm & 8pm)…with a bit of a confusing result.
ITV’s rural soap got the ball rolling at 7pm as regretful vet Rhona was on a bit of a detox in A&E. 6.1 million viewers, the day’s biggest audience, tuned in to see the troubled addict face up to her problems, netting a 33% share.
Over on BBC One at 7:30pm the youth of Walford continued to desecrate the wilderness as the camping trip from hell continued. An even 6 million viewers watched as the gang brought their magical brand of grimness to the idyllic countryside, netting the day’s second biggest audience.
The return visit to the Dales at 8pm saw the audience dip slightly. 5.5 million viewers meant that the second slice of Emmerdale pie landed in third place.
Overnight data is available each morning in mediatel.co.uk’s TV Database, with all BARB registered subscribers able to view reports for terrestrial networks and key multi-channel stations.